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Mystery Over MetLife MSRs Ends: JPM the Buyer

MetLife Bank said late Friday it will sell its $70 billion residential servicing portfolio to JPMorgan Chase for an undisclosed sum.

Other details on the transaction were not available at press time. The deal is subject to certain regulatory approvals “and other customary closing conditions” according to a statement issued by the insurance conglomerate.

Earlier this year MetLife exited the residential business, shuttering its origination arm, warehouse division and reverse business. It hung onto its MSRs through its wholesale bank–that is, until the JPM deal was unveiled on Friday.

JPM has actually been reducing its MSR footprint, according to figures compiled by ASR sister publication National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report. At June 30 for example it serviced $1 trillion in residential loans, a 9% decline from a year earlier.

“Given MetLife’s focus as a global insurance and employee benefits leader, the company decided in 2011 that a bank holding company structure was no longer appropriate,” the firm said. “Since that time, MetLife has entered into agreements to sell MetLife Bank’s deposit business to GE Capital, sold the bank’s warehouse finance business to EverBank, sold the bank's reverse mortgage servicing rights to Nationstar, and ceased writing residential mortgages,” said Jim Rose, MetLife Bank president.

“The acquisition of this high-quality portfolio reflects our strategy to strengthen and grow our Servicing business,” said Eric Schuppenhauer, head of mortgage servicing at Chase. “We will be able to provide our full range of products and services to an additional 350,000 individuals and families. We expect that many of these customers will take advantage of historically low interest rates by refinancing.”

The $70 billion servicing portfolio will increase Chase’s $1.1 trillion servicing business by more than 5%.

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